


Violet Between Black and White

by I_can_only_imagine



Series: JayKyle Week 2020 [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: And He Gets One!, Black Lantern Jason Todd, Day 2: White Lantern!Kyle, Discord: JayKyle Week 2020, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, JayKyle Week 2020, M/M, White Lantern Kyle Rayner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26825062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_can_only_imagine/pseuds/I_can_only_imagine
Summary: Despite years as the Black Lantern without incident, the Guardians are still paranoid that Jason will cause Blackest Night. In a bought of paranoia, they send the White Lantern to bring him back to Oa. Of course, sending the boyfriend for the Black Lantern to capture him is a terrible idea, considering acts of betrayal against him help power his ring.
Relationships: Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd
Series: JayKyle Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956478
Comments: 5
Kudos: 177





	Violet Between Black and White

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for JayKyle Week Day 2: White Lantern!Kyle.
> 
> A little bit of background: in this universe the Black Lantern ring can be powered by the direct opposites or adjacents of the other rings as well as death. The emotions/acts that power his ring are passion, sacrifice, bravery, submission, despair, grief, and betrayal.

Jason felt a sudden surge of power, the black ring on his finger gurgling and spitting like boiling ink. Great. Now his dinner was ruined.

With a deep sigh he turned off the burner and turned on the water to clean off the pan. While he was at it, he cleaned some of the dishes left over from the day before and created randomized constructs to exhaust some of the overflowing energy so his ring would stop covering his hand in black liquid that felt like misery to touch. When the dishwasher was fully loaded and started, he kept his hand under the running tap water and leaned on the counter, his chin held in his clean hand.

He wondered if it was Hal, Guy, John, or Kyle who had been sent. Based on the reaction of his ring, it was probably Kyle. He was thankful for the numbing properties of the charm the guardians had given him all those years ago, as he knew without it he would probably be a mess on his kitchen floor from the pain, covered in black ooze with the stench of death surrounding him.

There was a knock on his front door. As he had many times in their relationship, Jason almost wished Kyle were a bit cruller. It was cruel to make Jason answer the door even though he would clearly know what this was about, so maybe he was actually wishing Kyle were kinder. That he would just break down the door, or create a key construct to get in.

Jason sighed again and turned the tap off. Looked like he would be moping after this. If there was an after this.

With the ring still leaking down his hand and dripping onto the floor, Jason went and opened the door.

“Can we do this outside?” Jason asked his boyfriend before anything else could be said.

“What are we doing?” Kyle asked. The attempt at ignorance was weak at best.

“Don’t try playing dumb Kyle, you’ve never been good at it,” Jason said. He didn’t wait for Kyle to reply. He walked past him and closed the door, then started making his way through the halls of the apartment complex until he reached the stairwell leading up to the roof.

“Jason,” Kyle started when they were on the roof, safe from civilians’ view. He didn’t say anything else though. Jason understood. What were you supposed to say in this situation?

“Can we just get this over with?” Jason asked.

Kyle nodded.

A rainbow of light flowed from Kyle’s ring easily, as it always had. Jason had long since gotten over his jealousy of how beautiful Kyle’s suit up was and instead started to admire it. The white materialized over his clothes with elegance and Jason wished today were a day where he could appreciate it as he usually would.

“I’m sorry,” Kyle said when his suit was fully materialized and his ring raised.

“Don’t take my line,” Jason said. Kyle’s eyes went wide behind his mask, Jason could sense the brief shock rolling off of him. He found it funny, in a morbid way, that Kyle would think he would give in without a fight just because it was him who was sent.

Before Kyle could so much as open his mouth, Jason reached up and snapped the charm off from around his neck. The force he used to tear the necklace away was enough to leave a dull, tingling pain on the back of his neck and palm. The sound of the charm hitting the floor didn’t even reach his ears as his emotions flooded through him without the protective filter.

The liquid from his ring went from it’s past steady flow to a sputtering fountain of darkness that surrounded Jason in a flash. The energy was enough to make the ring stop leaking as his suit materialized faster than it ever had before.

“Jason, you don’t want to do this,” Kyle warned.

“I don’t,” Jason agreed, his voice thickly choked by the emotions that were still too powerful for him, even after all these years. “But you’re not really giving me a choice here.”

Kyle proved his point and didn’t hesitate in making the first move. He never had. It was part of what Jason loved about him.

The attack wasn’t in Kyle’s benefit. It never would be, and Kyle always forgot that. Everyone always forgot that. The first attack was one of the strongest acts of betrayal, the only thing greater than it being the ending blow.

They were in the air within seconds. The wind of the altitude combined with the force of Kyle’s constructs made Jason’s black hood ripple and try to fly off, but the overwhelming power in his ring held it in place. It was a good way to expend some of his overflowing energy, just like the practice constructs he had done in his kitchen.

Jason didn’t let himself think about the battle. He didn’t have to. He just had to let the ring do its job of protecting him while he stood there and tried to reign in his emotions. He didn’t want to hurt Kyle after all, he never would. If he did the fighting himself, that was exactly what would happen.

_ Breath. Remember. Focus. _

He needed control over his emotions.

The black shields materialized one after the other, blocking every attempt Kyle made at getting to him.

Kyle didn’t want to hurt him either, it was clear in the way his constructs hesitated and were easily broken. But as the fight went on with Jason staying on defense without any attacks, Jason could sense the gradual change in Kyle’s constructs. Each time one hit his shields, the darkness sent him feedback on what Kyle’s aura looked like so he wouldn’t have to open his eyes and take his focus away from controlling his emotions.

With each hit against his shield, he could sense the red and violet growing in Kyle’s aura. He wanted Jason to fight back. He was mad Jason wasn’t fighting back.

Didn’t Kyle know if Jason fought back he would lose? Why would he want Jason to fight back? Why wasn’t he trying as hard as he should to take Jason in?

Jason shook away his questions, but before he could refocus his attention, Kyle was calling to him.

“I am giving you a choice,” he said. There was a deep pleading in his voice that he barely tried to hide. “Please, just surrender. It will be easier on all of us.”

“I’ll surrender,” Jason said. “When Green Lanterns learn how to use their fucking words.”

Kyle had completely broken his concentration. Jason’s eyes opened and the emotions flowed out before he could stop them.

Kyle didn’t have time to react. Inky constructs shot out and wrapped around him, contrasting nicely against his white uniform.

He struggled and writhed against Jason’s hold, but was unsuccessful in getting away. The liquid constructs solidified into opaque restraints that completely covered his ring and held his arms and legs together. With his ring covered and his power blocked, Kyle’s suit dematerialized, and it was only Jason’s constructs that kept him in the air.

Jason flipped off his hood and created a platform to sit criss cross on at eye level with Kyle. He couldn’t see anything vision covered in black, but his constructs built enough of an image for him to know Kyle had stopped fighting back.

Settled in, he took a few deep breaths, using the method Guy had taught him before he had the charm to regulate his emotions.

In for four. Hold for four. Out for four. Hold for four. Repeat.

When he opened his eyes, he had to dematerialize the bit of his suit where his pocket was to grab out his handkerchief and eye drops. He went through the memorized motions of wiping away the black tears from his face and dropping in the eye drops to clear up his vision.

“Okay,” Jason said when he was cleaned up and calm. “Now that that’s done, can we talk about this like rational adults.”

Kyle didn’t say anything, but Jason could see it in his aura. Violet and indigo. Kyle wanted to talk about this and fix it without any more violence, just like Jason.

“Why did the guardians send you?” Jason asked to start them off.

“They wanted me to bring you back to Oa,” Kyle said. “They knew if they tried to send Hal, John or Guy they would refuse. Carol’s ring would prevent her from betraying you.”

“And it would only make me stronger if it were any of them,” Jason pointed out. “My ring started reacting with despair, grief and betrayal the moment you entered the atmosphere. If one of them had been sent, they wouldn’t even be able to leave Oa before I figured it out.”

“That too,” Kyle agreed. “But I didn’t come to bring you back to Oa.”

“I know,” Jason said. “You were going to bring me to Carol and the Star Sapphires to hide, right?”

“You know how much it freaks me out when you do that,” Kyle said, but there was a laugh in his voice. “I had to make myself not think about it when I entered the atmosphere so you wouldn’t catch on. What cued you in?”

“Too much violet in your aura, too much hesitance in your constructs,” Jason said. “It took me a minute, but you didn’t make it too hard for me.”

“Then why am I still in these?” Kyle asked, nodding his head to the restraint.

“For show. I’ll let you down when you promise you’ll play nice.”

“I promise,” Kyle said with a grin. Jason was left breathless for a second, both from that grin Kyle knew he couldn’t resist and from the violet surrounding him. There was so much, Jason swore Kyle had to be able to see it too. Everyone had to be able to see it too. But he knew he was the only one who could.

Jason held back a laugh. This man would be the death of him—again—he was sure.

He carefully moved the constructs so that Kyle was safely over his platform before summoning them back to his ring. Kyle fell to the platform lightly, dropping to his knees to pull Jason forward into his arms.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Kyle promised. Because Kyle knew. Of course he knew. Hal had sat him down and told him everything when he and Jason started dating so that they would both be safe. He knew how messed up his childhood had made him, and how his powers only amplified everything that went wrong in his head.

“I should go to Oa,” Jason said into his shoulder.

“No. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Kyle repeated. “They’re just being paranoid as usual.”

“They won’t hurt me. They won’t have anyone hurt me. They never have. If I just go like they want me too, everything will be okay. They’ll only hold me for a few days in my cell-”

“Jason, you are not going to Oa. I’ll tie you to the kitchen chair in my apartment in New York if I have to.”

“You might have to,” Jason admitted with a self deprecating laugh. The platform expanded under them, and there were those black tears again. Jason was smiling though, to make sure Kyle knew it wasn’t his fault they were there.

“Do you want me to go get your charm?” Kyle asked.

“I’m fine. Guy said I need to start letting it out and stop repressing it like the Guardians want me to. Carol told me something similar when I was younger.”

“You’re getting better at controlling it. I could tell during the fight.”

“I wasn’t controlling it.”

“Yes you were. I could feel it.”

“You can’t feel auras,” Jason laughed.

“I didn’t have to. I could tell from the way your constructs were moving,” Kyle said. He used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears, but they were only really effective in spreading the dark liquid across his cheeks. “You don’t see it because you’re the one doing it, but you’re controlling the ring.”

“If I’m the one controlling it, and it’s not controlling me, then why am I giving up?” Jason asked. “Submission is a property of the ring.”

“And the only reason you can control the ring is because it’s a property of you,” Kyle said. “You don’t want to give up, that’s not what submission is, you just want to yield.”

“Same thing,” Jason mumbled.

“No, it’s not. God, I wish Guy was here. He explains this stuff better.”

“He does.”

“Brat,” Kyle chuckled, hugging Jason close to his chest.

Jason breathed in the scent of the cheap laundry detergent Kyle relied on, and curled his finger into the back of his shirt. It grounded him, it always did. What would he do without Kyle?

“What would I do without you?” he whispered.

“What would  _ I _ do without  _ you _ ,” Kyle asked in return.

“Have fewer headaches,” Jason said, and Kyle just laughed again. Jason never wanted him to stop laughing.

Kyle held him a little tighter and buried his nose in his hair, “You’re not going to let me take you to the Star Sapphires, are you?”

Jason shook his head.

“Will you at least let me bring you to New York? I have vacation leave for a few weeks.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah. I just need to call my dad and let him know I won’t be in Gotham.”

Kyle kissed his head and finally pulled back.

Jason sat still with his eyes closed while Kyle made work of cleaning up his face and placing a soft kiss on each cheek.

“This will all blow over soon,” Kyle promised. “They just get like this sometimes, you know that.”

“It’s not like they don’t have reason to,” Jason shrugged. “You can’t lie to me, I know it gets to you sometimes too. It gets to all of you.”

“Jason—”

“Don’t. Please don’t. I already have my dad and stepdad lying to me on a daily basis about how I scare the shit out of them, I don’t need you doing it to me too.”

“I know,” Kyle sighed. “I promised I would never lie to you. It does scare me Jay, but I’m never going to let it warp how I think of you. You aren’t your powers, and you aren’t William Hand. You’re my Jay and I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I’m not afraid of you Jay.”

“Never said I loved you for your brains.”

“Very funny,” Kyle waked him playfully on the head before pressing a kiss to his forehead and repeating,. “You aren’t William Hand. You’re not going to cause Blackest Night.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“I don’t. I just trust you.”

Jason was silent for a while after that. The platform lowered back to the roof then disappeared entirely along with his suit. He didn’t move when Kyle got up to get his charm, and didn’t move when Kyle used a construct to repair the broken chain. He didn’t put it on Jason, but did press it into his hand, a reminder that he could put it back on whenever he was ready.

Kyle picked Jason up bridal style, placing a few more kisses on his head. Jason let himself lean into the touch and wrapped his arms securely around Kyle’s neck.

He decided, as Kyle started to hum and carry him down to the parking lot, that he could call his dad tomorrow. And that he would worry about being the Black Lantern, and Kyle being the White Lantern, and the Guardians' paranoia over Blackest Night another day. He focused on the violet, and let himself forget.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments give me life so if you liked the story feel free to leave some!  
> Come find me over @what-if-i-imagine on tumblr where my asks, prompts, and requests are always open! And thank you to my lovely girlfriend for beta reading todays entry.


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